"We have already put together a task force of internal and external people here in Detroit to fully explore the opportunity of Amazon’s HQ2. We are very excited and we believe that Detroit will make an extremely strong pitch to Amazon," Gilbert said in a statement released Thursday.

The comments from Gilbert, the founder and chairman of Quicken Loans and Rock Ventures, follow Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan's spokesman saying the city would investigate the opportunity.

"... As to Amazon's announcement that it is seeking proposals for a second headquarters, our only comment at this time is that we will be evaluating it carefully," said John Roach.

The online retail giant announced Thursday that it is seeking a second North American headquarters -- dubbed HQ2 -- that will employ up to 50,000 and cost about $5 billion to build and operate.